What is going on these days ?
In the last week I have entered into projects with two separate customers who have been terrorized (the customer's wording, in one case) by their existing IT vendor, and want to find a new provider who won't attack them...
I find it hard to think with.
I have been told stories that demonstrate extremely poor character being played out in cases where the IT vendor has had a long-term (more than 1 year) relationship in place. One customer put it this way: "familiarity breeds contempt".
In one example recently, I found what can only have been a deliberate act of sabotage in the customer's computer equipment, leaving one of his machines inoperable. Perhaps it was a mistake, but then that implies simple incompetence as the only other possibility.
Either way, there is clearly a need to maintain a civilized and amenable relationship, customer to IT contractor, or just find another vendor.
The really scary part of this is how much damage an out-of-control IT guy armed with ALL the passwords for your IT infrastructure [really the "keys to the kingdom"] can do in a very short space of time. Can you imagine ? All your data GONE.